The COVID-19 Technical Team formed by the leader of the National Democratic Congress has said public providers, in their entirety, must be placed on a disaster preparedness footing, and private facilities must be given immediate support to adopt that posture as well in the fight against the deadly disease.
It noted that the donation of Personal Protective Equipments and other items for self-protection must be extended to the Private Health Facilities.
This was contained in a statement by the Team after they donated assorted items to Head Porters in Accra.
The team said One key aspect of this is the immediate settlement of NHIA debt to providers, the suspension of capitated outpatient payments, and the inclusion of COVID-19 testing and treatment to the NHIS’ list of essential health benefits.
“These will provide demand-side incentives for proactive care-seeking behavior, and eliminate the risk of perverse incentives created by supply-side cost-sharing.”
“At present, messaging on COVID-19 appears to be targeted at a literacy level that precludes many millions of Ghanaians from the critical health information about the virus and its disease. That has manifested in a proliferation of false information and fake cures that are themselves a great risk to health. Of greater concern, the low permeability of the messaging into marginalized communities is occasioning a skewed risk perception that, ultimately, is limiting the degree of appropriate behavioral changes necessary to prevent infection.”
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Kofi Atakora
